Start: Harburg
Finish: Ahrensburg
Distance: 21
Total: 1738
Today I was able to maneuver myself through and around the very busy city of Hamburg without getting run over by bicycles, cars, trucks, trains, and city busses. There are 5.1M residents in and around Hamburg and I think I saw a good portion of them sometime today.
The weather forecast was calling for rain and thunderstorms starting at 1:00 and heavy thunderstorms at 2:00 today. I had a full 21 miles to walk, which normally takes 7 hours, plus stops. So I got up early, ate breakfast at the hotel as soon as it was offered at 6:30, and I was out the door at 6:45. Google Maps had me zigzagging all over eastern Hamburg so I kept a close eye on the route on my phone. All 21 miles except the last 5-6 were on the sidewalks of city streets. By lunchtime I was about a half hour ahead of schedule and felt confident that if the weather forecast was accurate, I would make it to my destination before the rain started. I made the decision to press on without stopping for lunch, and opted instead to just get a soda and wait until I got to my destination of Ahrensburg before eating. It all worked out, I got to town at 1:15, went to my hotel to check in, and it began to rain. So I missed out on lunch but will go eat dinner early.
Before typing this journal entry, I started firming up my lodging plan between here and the border of Denmark which I will reach next Tuesday. Unfortunately, most of the remaining German towns I’m walking through are along the Baltic coast, and this being prime vacation season in Europe, I’m having a little difficulty finding places to stay. I may have to take the train back and forth and stay in some hotels multiple nights.
Tomorrow’s a fairly easy 13 mile day, so I think I’ll take my good ole easy time getting on the road tomorrow; no 6:30 AM breakfast for me. I hope everyone has a great day. JB.
